The Samsung’s weight and tool size won it for Dugard – David Semple at Main Tool Company

Established in 1954, Main Tool Company is a precision engineering company based in central Scotland.

With over 50 years experience and expertise within the machining industry they pride themselves in keeping up to date with new technology and are equipped with the latest CNC and tooling techniques.

In November 2011, the company made their first Dugard purchase, a Samsung PL45MC CNC lathe. They were so pleased that they took delivery of their second PL45MC in August. Many of their components, specifically for the oil and gas industry are made from tough and hard materials such as Stainless 316, Inconel 718 and Inconel 924 – these machines are ideal as the Samsung lathes offer additional turning length and a powerful milling function.

SAMSUNG MACHINE TOOLS AT DUGARD

David Semple from Main Tool said “This machine has been a real revelation for us, previously we had to turn parts and then second op them on a vertical machining centre, now with the Samsung CNC lathe we can both turn and mill on this machine thanks to its mill drill turret. Also we now have 2 metres in turning length capacity on this lathe, opening up whole new markets for us in subcontract machining. Flexibility is the key and we now have this.”

When comparing and searching the market for a machine to meet their requirements the company looked at a wide variety of lathes but the vast majority did not get anywhere near the capabilities of the Samsung PL45MC lathe. A well-known Korean manufacturer’s machine was 4 tonnes lighter, which logically reduces machining stability, also the same manufacturer’s machine had 25 section turret tooling compared to 35 on the Samsung. These two features alone show the value Samsung as a manufacturer place on providing high quality, heavy-duty machine tools.

David goes on to say “We think in time we will replace all our 2 axis lathes with this technology, Dugard have been great, everything has run very smoothly from order through to delivery and installation.”